The housing market, casinos, concert halls, and the livestock sector are all used to launder money in Central American countries.
Excerpted from the report "International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, Volume II, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes" by the US State Department:
Costa Rica Transnational criminal organizations continue to favor Costa Rica as a base to commit financial crimes due to its location and limited enforcement capability. Costa Rica’s government has attempted to strengthen the legal framework for supervision and enforcement; however, challenges remain in mitigating money laundering risks. Costa Rica is a transit point that is also increasingly used as an operations base for narcotics trafficking; and significant laundering of proceeds from illicit activities continues. Costa Rica should continue to close financial crimes legislative gaps and allocate resources for investigation and prosecution.
The figure is an estimate made by the Intelligence Directorate in Costa Rica released by the US State Department, along with information that indicates a rise in criminal organizations based in the country, and little capacity to combat them.
Money laundering is a criminal activity that handles amounts that are difficult to measure. For example, the report "Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2004-2013" by Global Financial Integrity says that during the aforementioned 10 year period, the flow of illicit money from Costa Rica exceeded $11 billion, that is about $1.1 billion a year.
In criminal proceedings declared as special because of their delinquent nature, such as organized crime in Costa Rica, demands can be made, by civil means, for explanations of capital increases on the part of natural or legal persons who may lose them if they are not able to prove the legality of their origin.
Assurance has been given that companies where Continental Group or its shareholders have a minority participation may continue to operate normally.
As outlined in an article on Televicentro.hn , the general coordinator of Government, Jorge Ramon Hernandez Alcerro, stated that "... 'there are over 40 companies' which have with less than 50 percent in shares of Continental Group, whose president is the banker and politician Jaime Rosenthal."
Diagram showing the people and companies identified by actions related to money laundering, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury´s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The US Treasury Department has advised that it will not sanction individuals or institutions participating in the liquidation provided that those transactions do not benefit any individual or entity other than those previously identified by the OFAC.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury Department of the United States has issued a statement regarding the decision of the Honduran authorities to liquidate Continental Bank, after identifying the institution and several of its executives as being involved in drug money laundering:
Money laundering has positive economic effect on economies, but also impoverishes the quality of institutions leading to dramatic effects on quality of life in society.
The excellent analysis by Norma Lezcano in his article on Estrategiaynegocios.net, on the US Treasury Department´s inclusion of members of the powerful Rosenthal family in the list of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) can be extrapolated to all Central American countries, and is a warning to the governments of the region, where drug trafficking has ingratiated itself and is creeping through state institutions, weakening them by making them serve criminal aims, and preventing them from carrying out their duties properly.
It has been announced that deposits up to $9,200 (L200,000) per person will be returned, and then payments to employees, depositors and others, noting that "... there are sufficient resources to address them all."
The cause is the inclusion of the institution in the list of the U.S Office of Foreign Assets Control, and the freezing of its assets abroad.
The global total for money laundering is between 2% and 5% of global GDP, "because illegal proceeds can be transferred easily and instantly from one jurisdiction to another."
In his discussion in an article in Americaeconomia.com, David Santa Cruz describes not only how money from criminal activities has permeated ALL of the economies of the world, but also how national development strategies in many states are adapting to the phenomenon.
O4Bi is a system that allows to control and manage what a company needs: the complete process of development of works, accounts receivable, treasury, banks, sales and accounting.
O4Bi is a very robust system that allows to control and...
español
1839